Sunflowers 101

Care For Your Flowers

Sunflowers are an American heritage bloom and have a reputation for bringing on the happy! A top pick, with incredible growth in the bloom market, explore more about this exciting flower and how to best care for it, here.

CARE AND HANDLING

Proper care will help extend your Sunflower’s life and your enjoyment.

  • Remove bottom leaves if present, recut stems and place into fresh water if you have flower food toss it in!
  • Change water every 2 days for longevity and outward appearance. Stem blocking bacteria builds up very quickly in the display bucket/ vases and a pungent odor will present itself if the water is not changed regularly.
  • Try to find an area in the house, office or room that is less then 75º F, otherwise Sunflowers will open too quickly (jeopardizing life span) and petals will begin to fall/wilt.
  • Customers receiving flowers in stage 3-4 under normal domestic conditions should expect vase life of 6-8 days.

SUNFLOWERS: A BRIEF HISTORY

The Sunflower is a very popular plant. One of only four major crops of global importance native to the United Sates (blueberry, cranberry and pecan are the other three). Colonists and explorers sent it back to Europe as a popular garden flower.

Its black, brown, yellow and green disks can grow as much as ten inches in diameter, making the native Sunflower rather impressive as a commercial seed crop. Incas considered them to be the image of their sun-god and wore golden disks with its likeness that were later coveted by Spanish conquerors. Sunflower seeds were sacred food for the Plains Indians, who placed bowls of them on graves to sustain the dead in their afterlife journey.

An ever increasing interest in the timeless beauty of ornamental Sunflowers as a bouquet bloom and a lucrative industrial market, requiring several million acres of land devoted to Sunflower oilseed production yearly, is a good indicator that our beloved Sunflower is a real national treasure!

DIGGING DEEPER: ETYMOLOGY

Helianthus Annuus (Sunflower)
The Sunflower derives its name from the Greek for (sun) "helios" and (flower) "anthos". Named for the way the Sunflower turns its head toward the sun. 

Thought to have originated in Mexico and Peru, Sunflowers are one of the first cultivars to have been grown in the United States. They have been used for more than 5,000 years by Native Americans, who enjoyed the seeds as food an oil source, and the flowers, roots and stems for varied purposes including a pigment dye. Spanish explorers brought Sunflowers to Europe, subsequently introducing them to neighboring European countries. Currently, Sunflower oil is one of the most popular oils in the world. 

Sunflower seeds are the gift of the beautiful Sunflower center. The flower produces grayish-green or black seeds encased in tear-dropped shaped gray or black shells that prototypically feature spectacular black and white stripes. A handful of sunflower seeds supply significant amounts of vitamin E, magnesium and selenium.

Many new Sunflower cultivars have been developed in the past ten years, with single and double flower forms and bicolored petals. 

Sunflower Stages

STAGE ONE: TIGHT

Cut at this stage in the field to decrease petal damage. This is the first stage of the Sunflower, which we call "Tight."

• When received at this cut stage the most important action is to re-cut the Sunflower and put the flower in a vase/bucket that has at least 5 inches of fresh water.

• Takes approx. 2-3 days to go from Stage 1 to Stage 2.

STAGE TWO: OPENING STAGE

This is the second stage of the Sunflower cut which we refer to as the "Opening Stage." Be prepared to have stems within the bunch open inconsistently.

- When received at this cut stage the most important action is to make sure the vase/bucket has fresh water (must be changed every 2 days) and is maintained at a consistent temperature (between 55º - 70º F).

- Takes approx. 2-3 days to go from Stage 2 to Stage 3.

STAGE THREE: IDEAL STAGE

Ideal Stage for Sunflowers as they should have a more uniform cup-stage appearance. This third stage is known as the "Blooming Stage."

- Make sure water has been replaced from initial uptake (Stage 2) and re-cut to accelerate opening stage.

- Takes approx. 5-7 days to go from Stage 3 to Stage 4.

STAGE FOUR: OPEN STAGE

This is the fourth and final stage of the Sunflower and is subsequently named the "Open Stage." Once it reaches the full blown state, petals will begin to fall off.

- When Sunflowers reach this stage, they should be kept in low to moderate temperature (55º - 70º F), so they last longer and age less quickly.

- Takes approx. 2-3 days before petals start falling off.

HELPFUL VIDEOS

A few videos to help you get to know your Sunflowers a bit better!